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Four new historical markers have been installed this fall along Maryland’s roadways

The Maryland Historical Trust, State Highway Administration, and local partners recently installed four new roadside historical markers along Maryland’s roadways, bringing the total number of markers to 816! The new markers celebrate a wide range of stories and places, ranging from the slave trade in Baltimore City to the establishment of the Town of Princess Anne in Somerset County.

Clarence Logan and Ralph Clayton proposed a marker to commemorate the tens of thousands of slaves who were held in Baltimore by slave traders and shipped South until 1864. Slave holding pens and markets were concentrated in the Inner Harbor and Fells Point areas. The streets where people today enjoy commerce and tourism once carried the traffic of human suffering.

Text: ALTHOUGH THE UNITED STATES BANNED THE TRANSATLANTIC SLAVE TRADE IN 1808, A DOMESTIC TRADE FROM THE UPPER SOUTH TO THE EMERGING COTTON-GROWING REGIONS OF THE DEEP SOUTH THRIVED UNTIL THE 1860s. BALTIMORE-BASED DEALERS SUPPLIED THE TRADE, OPERATING SLAVE PENS AT THE INNER HARBOR, ON FELL’S POINT, AND ACROSS THE CITY, INCLUDING NEAR THIS LOCATION. BETWEEN 1808 AND THE ABOLITION OF SLAVERY IN MARYLAND IN 1864, AN ESTIMATED THIRTY THOUSAND PEOPLE WERE “SOLD SOUTH” FROM BALTIMORE.

FORT LOOK-OUT

Scott Sheads, National Park Service historian with Fort McHenry National Monument and Historic Shrine, and Paul Stysley, of Friends of Riverside Park, proposed a marker to commemorate Fort Look-Out, a military site in Baltimore that played a role in the defense of Fort McHenry during the War of 1812.

Text: DURING THE WAR OF 1812, A CIRCULAR 180’ EARTHEN ARTILLERY REDOUBT WAS ERECTED AS A DEFENSE FOR FORT McHENRY. ON SEPTEMBER 13, 1814, LT. GEORGE BUDD COMMANDED NAVAL FORCES THAT ASSISTED IN REPULSING A NIGHTTIME BRITISH ATTACK ON THE FERRY BRANCH DEFENSES OF FORTS COVINGTON AND BABCOCK. IN CA. 1828, ALFRED J. MILLER PAINTED “THE BOMBARDMENT OF FORT McHENRY” FROM HERE.

ANNAPOLIS WATER COMPANY

Annapolis Mayor Ellen Moyer proposed a marker to commemorate the history of the Annapolis Water Company, a site retaining many of its historic features within the Annapolis Waterworks Park, open to the public for hiking and catch and release fishing.

Where: Waterworks Park, one mile west of the Annapolis Mall on Rt. 450 (Defense Highway).

Text: CHARTERED IN 1865 BY THE MARYLAND GENERAL ASSEMBLY AFTER A FIRE AT THE STATE HOUSE IN 1863. WATERWORKS BEGAN OPERATION IN 1866, DESIGNED BY NOTED CIVIL ENGINEER WILLIAM RICH HUTTON, WHO HAD RECENTLY COMPLETED WASHINGTON AQUEDUCT. INNOVATIVE CONCRETE PIPES CARRIED WATER TO ANNAPOLIS. PROPERTY INCLUDES A LATE 19TH CENTURY ENGINEER’S RESIDENCE, TWO SETTLING BASINS, RESERVOIR AND DAM, AND 1907 PUMP HOUSE BY BALTIMORE ARCHITECTS BALDWIN & PENNINGTON.

PRINCESS ANNE TOWN

Somerset County Historical Trust Chairwoman Gale Yerges requested a new marker for Princess Anne Town to replace an older marker that had been destroyed in an automobile accident. The new marker corrects inaccuracies found in the original marker.

Where: Manokin River Park, Somerset Avenue (MD 675), Princess Anne.

Text: FOUNDED 1733. BY AN ACT OF MARYLAND’S GENERAL ASSEMBLY, 25 ACRES OF THE BECKFORD PLANTATION WERE PURCHASED TO ESTABLISH PRINCESS ANNE, NAMED FOR THE DAUGHTER OF KING GEORGE II. THE TOWN WAS DESIGNATED AS THE SEAT OF SOMERSET COUNTY COURT IN 1742 AND BECAME AN IMPORTANT MARKET CENTER DUE TO RIVER TRADE IN THE 18TH CENTURY AND THE EXTENSION OF THE RAILROAD IN THE 19TH.